The Vermont Women’s Fund, the first and largest philanthropic resource in the state founded specifically to advance women and girls in Vermont, announced that three new female leaders have joined its governing council. They are Sujata Moorti, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Middlebury College; Helena Van Voorst, executive director of the United Way of Addison County; and Wangene Hall, director of marketing at Global Village Foods.
“We are honored to have the knowledge and expertise of our new council members,” said Meg Smith, director of the Vermont Women’s Fund. “They join us in our vision to see Vermont as a place where all women and girls thrive.”
VFW council members are responsible for the strategic direction of the fund’s grantmaking on key economic issues impacting Vermont’s women and girls.
Moorti the Charles A. Dana Professor in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies at Middlebury, has published extensively on gender-based violence, particularly how the intersections of race and class complicate our understandings of the nature of crime, criminality and victimization. In her teaching and scholarship, feminism has been the central pillar through which Sujata has considered how one could imagine a more just and equitable world.
Van Voorst has managed all aspects of fundraising for a variety of different nonprofit organizations in Vermont for more than 15 years. She has extensive experience in grant writing and grant making, strategic planning, board development, public speaking and nonprofit management.
Hall is an entrepreneur and co-owner at Global Village Food. She currently serves as the entrepreneurship organizer at Vermont Releaf Collective, sits on the boards of several nonprofits and is a passionate advocate of Black entrepreneurship.